Draft-regulator.



E. GAPPEE. DRAFT REGULATOR. APPLICATION FILED 0OT.26,1907.

' Patented Dec. 29, 1908 nnrrun STATES EDWARD GAPPER, OF SHENANDOAH, PENNSYLVAIIIA;-

DRAFT-REGULATOR.

Specification of LettersPatent.

Eatented Dec. 29, 1908.

Application filed October 26, 190% Serial No. 399,822.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ED lam) CAP ER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Shenandoah, in the county of Schuylkill and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Draft-Regulators, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to draft regulators, and more particularly to devices of this character designed especially for use on loco: motives.

As iswell known to locomotive engineers, great trouble is often eirperienced with the type of exhaust now in use, on account of-the excessive draft created through the fire box.

' This has the effect of drawin the ,fire out through the tubes, and discharging large sparks and glowing cinders from the stack. This is highly objectionable, both on account of wasting fuel, and of the danger of setting fire to property along the ri ht-of-way. To remedy this trouble, firemen rave often been accustomed to open the fire-door, when the engine is starting, or drawing a particularly heavy load, in order to prevent the destructive action on the fire. The admission of cool air in this manner, however, deadens the fire,.and, moreover, has a bad eliect on the fire-box and flues.

It is the primary object of the present invention, therefore, to )rovide an exhaust mechanism, by the use 0 which the excessive discharge of sparks from the smoke stack will be revented.

, further ob'ect of the invention is to accomplish the a ove result without affecting the back pressure on the engine.

A further object is to provide a draft regue lator or exhaust mechanism, which, while producing the above results, shall be extrernel simple and cheap to construct. 4

Wit the above, and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafterdescribed, andi lustrated, in the accompany ing drawings, in which :T

Figure 1 is an end View, part] in section, showing my improved draft reg-u ator mounted in the front endrof a locomotive ,boiler shell. Fig. 2 is a perspective view, showing parts of the regulator on an enlarged scale.

ig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of one of the valves, showing one method of securin same to the valve rod.

eferring to the drawings in detail: 1-

. represents the, usual boiler shell surroundin the smoke box, and on which is mounte the stack, 2. Into this smoke box dischar e 'the fire-tubes, (not shown) commony employed in this type of boiler. Mounted in the smoke-box is a cylindrical casing, 3, secured to the boiler shell as by means of the flange 3, and surmounted by a tapering cap, 4, having a peripheral flange, 4. A manifold, comprising a central or main tube, 5, and a pair of side or branch tubes, 6, 7, is provided with a flange, 5, adapted to seat against, and. be secured to the flange, 4. This chamber, formed by the parts 8 and 4, I willgdesignate a freceiver, as it is designed to receive the exhaust steam from the cylinders, with which it communicates, by means of suitable pipes', (hot shown), which tap the bottom of the chamberl It will be noted that the branch tubes 6 and 7 are prefercross sectional area'is equal to'that of the -main tube, 5. Fitted to the upper end of the branch tubes 6 and 7 are discharge pipes 8 and.9, passing up through the boiler shell on each side of the stack, 2, and preferably extending to the same height. Passing through the :side of ,the' boiler shell, and suitably journaled therein is a rod or shaft, 10. As clearly shown in Fig. 2, this shaft extends through all three branches of the manifold, 5, 6, 7, and these latter are cut away at their upper edges, as at 14:, in order to accommodate thev shaft, and afford it suitable bearings. The discharge pipes, 8 and 9, are also cut away, as at 15, at their lower edges, so as to fit over and embrace the shaft 10.

' Mounted on the shaft 10 are three darnpers, or valves, 11, 12, and 13, disposed within the three branches, 7, 5, 6, respecthe same, The valves 11 and 13 are dis 12, so .that when the former are open, the latter'is closed, and vice versa. The valves may befixed to the rod 10 by flattening the rod as at 1Q,-in Fig. 3', and securing with rivets 12', or in any other desired manner. Outside of the boiler the shaft 10 carries anarm 16, to the other end ofwhich a rod 17 is attached, and extends backto the cab of the locomotive. A stop 18 is ably;of such diameter that their combined tively, of the manifold, and snugly fittingposed at rightEangles to the plane of valve 53 QOZQGE:

With the parts the position shown in the drawings, the exhaust escapes through the main tube 5, and stack 2, in the usual manner. When however, it is observed that the is too strong, and is drawing the fire unduly, the shaft 10 is rocked by means of the connections above described, so as to bring the valves into position to partially or Wholly close the valve 12,- and correspondingly open the valves 11 and 18. The exhaust steam, then, instead of rushing out through the stack, and producing an excessive draft, is deflected, and passes, partly or Wholly, out through the tubes 6 and 7, and discharge pipes 8 and 9. 1t will be particularly noted that, owing to the relation above described, existing between the sizes of the several tubes, the total area available for the escaping steam is only slightly altered by manipulating the valves, for the reason that the tubes 6 and 7 are opened to substantially the same extent that tube 5 is closed, and thus the back pressure on the engine remains practically unchanged.

it will thus be seen that I have provided an exceeding simple and el'licient device, by the use of which the draft of a locomotive may be controlled at will, and it is thought the numerous advantages of my invention will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art.

W hat I claim is:-

1. The combination with a locomotive boiler having the usual smolraboi: and stack, 1

of a receiver mounted in the smoke-box, a manifold connecting with said receiver, and comprising a main tube, and a pair of branch tubes, said main tube discharging into the stack, and said branch tubes communicating A with the outer atmosphere, a shaft journelml in said manifold, and extending through said boiler shell, and a plurality of valves sc cured to said shaft, and disposed, one within each of said tubes, the valve in the main tube lying at right angles to the valves in the branch tubes.

2. The combination with a locomotive boiler having the usual smokc-box and stack,

of a receiver mounted in said smoke box, a r

main and a pair of branch tubes extending from said receiver and discharging into the stack and into the atmosphere, respectively, a separate valve mounted wholly within each of said tubes, beyond said receiver, and a OLIVER C. CAPPER, JAMES Vt. Dnvrs. 

